journal" mariss poll shows president obama with a seven-point lead in new hampshire, two-point leads in nevada and north carolina. virginia could be the bellwether. both the president and mitt romney campaigned there yesterday, and the latest poll shows the president with with a slight edge. let me bring in perry bacon and susan. good to see both of you. good morning. >> good morning. >> i'm sure you saw what charles cr krauthhammer wrote this morning. make the case and go large. it might just work and it's not too late. what do you think, susan? does mitt romney need to take risks and go big? >> one thing is for sure. the debate this week in denver on wednesday is a big deal for the romney campaign. he has to make his case, and he has to mak his case he's a better candidate than barack obama.

he has to throw some punches. he can't just kind of go in there sort of apologetically and be very gentle with obama. he has to really throw some punches and show people why he's the better candidate. i think a lot of these polls are a little bit overstated. i think the democrats have been oversampled in a lot of polls, and i don't think there's that huge of a gap between romney and obama. nonetheless, he has to make a really strong stand in the first debate. this is probably the most important debate for him at this point in the campaign. >> i don't want to let that statement about polls go unanswered. eugene robinson's piece today is about what he calls the new conspiracy. republicans diluted that there are skewed polls. paul ryan was the latest one to join on the bandwagon last night talking about wisconsin. >> i don't believe that particular poll. i won't get into the methodologies about it. >> they weren't talking about a specific poll in na statement,

which sounds like it doesn't matter to him which poll it is but it's tainted. what's your take on this? we've heard it a lot over the last 48 hours. >> look at all the polls. if you go to realclearpolitics.com, for instance, in every poll in every swing state the president is a hit, it's hard to find a poll in a swing state where romney is leading. if you look at the data right now, we're looking at an election that looks more like 2008 than 2004. the president is ahead in almost every swing state, whether you look at gallup pews or pugh poll or nbc news polls, the president is far ahead right now. romney does five points nationally in some big swing state that romney does need a big move in the debates to change the game. anytime a campaign says a poll is wrong, it's a sign they're not doing well from my experience doing politics. >> susan, if you look at new hampshire where his lead is

larger, but in north carolina and nevada it's close, and those are states not doing as well economically. does that make sense to you, that that's where mitt romney would be keeping it closer? i'm trying to get to the heart of this complaint about these skewed polls. >> the idea behind the complaint is it's not the same dynamic as it was in 2008. the idea that democrats would be turning out in the same mhuge numbers as they were in 2008 which some polls suggest doesn't make any sense. the economy is on the verge of another recession according to a lot of nonpartisan think tanks. people are out of work and the unemployment rate is skyrocketing. the idea the democrats turn out with the same numbers and the same level of enthusiasm as they did in 2008 has raised, rightfully so, the number of democrats sampled in the polls. >> perry, what are hearing about the internal polls?

>> the romney campaign keeps putting out memos say the race is closer than the polls show. if it showed they were winning by a lot, they would say that. the romney campaign privately does not they think the polls awrong. they say the poll show obama leading by more than think he is. it's not they're saying the polls are wrong. when every national poll -- i don't think we can say -- when fox news' poll shows obama ahead in a bunch of swing states recently, i don't think we can say the polls are wrong and biased because fox news conservative leading. they show what the polls are showing as well. the president has a strong lead. pollsters have a strong incentive to have their polls be accurate, because that's what their profession is. i'm skeptical they're tries to missample people. the finding more democrats are anyway poll, when a democratic candidate is popular, more

people call themselves democrats. that doesn't mean the poll is wrong. more people call themselves democrats than they might have been four or five weeks ago. >> let me bring in mark mckinnon. we'll bring you into this conversation. i want to start with something that newt gingrich said this morning on "morning joe." mark, let me play that. >> everybody i talk to agrees he's had two and a half very tough weeks, and i do agree. i think they started with the clinton speech, and then they got compoundeded by all the ot stuff that happened. the person in the cross hairs in the next ten days is mitt romney. >> let me ask you about your thought of where the campaign is right now, and if he's in the cross hairs feeling the heat, is he the kind of guy that stomach bems and withers, or is he the candidate to take that as i'm

hitting rock bottom and i'm going to start to climb up? >> well, i mean, mitt romney has shown a lot of resolve through the primaries, and he bounced back from a lot of bad periods. i remember well in september of 2000 we called it black september and we were down 3 to 5 points. it wasn't until the dethe baits we turned things around. there's opportunity here for sure, but what the romney campaign has to do, which is sort of what charles krauthhammer is saying is start to talk about policy and go big. >> how does do that? >> he takes an opportunity at the dethe bait to have defining moments. he can talk specifically about the tax plan he put out there, put specifics on the table. talk about where the deductions are going come from, talk about the entitlement reforms. talk about how, in fact, it's mitt romney mean-testing entitlement reforms. he's talking about returning benefits to seniors and others

that don't make as much money, which is benefit redistribution. >> well, i want to -- a lot of times when you look at where a campaign is, you can tell by how the money is moving. it was somethinging that the billionaire democrat has decided to give a million bucks it to a pro-obama super-pac including another half million for congressional races. before that he didn't think he wanted to do that or get involved. is he seeing a shift, and it's time to back the winning horse? do you watch the money and stay that gives me the indication of the mood out there? >> of course. in politics you always follow the money, and that's a great example. george has seen the poker hand. he sees that obama is holding three aces and romney is trying to drive to an inside straight. he's putting his money on the table now. >> do you think that similarly the republican money is going to start to dry up, or will you see people who start to get worried and put more in? >> i think it's already drying

up, and it's problematic. the republicans made a big bet on late money, and a lot of late money may not be there. >> i want to ask buyou about a t of buzz out there by what congressman todd akin said. he told "the kansas city star" that claire mchas kill had a confidence and more ladylike in 2006. in the debate on friday she came out swinging and because she felt threatened. he also called her a wildcat. here's what nor the senator said on "morning joe." >> i don't know what his accusation not ladylike mines. i'm a former prosecutor and i'm strong and informed. he sometimes makes michele bachmann look like a hippy. >> does this bring back this

whole war on women narrative that's not repful to the republicans? >> of course it does. i have two words for todd akin. he is idiot-like. it does. it sends a message to the broader public and certainly independent voters in missouri that the republican running there is prehistoric. it brings up issues that republicans don't want to talk about right now. we want to talk about economic issues and not the issues that todd aakin keeps dragging back in. >> some folks came out for him in recent days saying the republican establishment needs to get behind him. there's indications they're thinking about it. if they did that, would that be a big mistake? >> well, it's a strategy of necessity. he's the senate slot that could bring the majority to the republicans, so they don't have a choice now because he's in the race. they're trying to save him. this is a good example of what

happens when you make the wrong bet in the primaries and elect the wrong people to represent your party in the primaries. >> always interesting to have you on the program. thank you so much. >> you bet. >> let's bring susan and perry back in. i want to play another piece of what claire mchaskell said this morning. >> watch the national republicans. they've all said it was unacceptable what he did, and i think scott brown and linda mcmahon and a lot of candidates out there are really going to be in trouble if the national republicans now go back on their word and come in and here try to fund todd akin. >> susan, do you agree with that? >> i agree that the democrats would really love to attach todd aakin to some of these critical swing state elections like brown in massachusetts. that's a real close race with democrat elizabeth warren, who definitely has her own problems with some of the things she's said and in connecticut as well. typically blue states where republicans have a real shot at

winning. i think the problem for claire is in her own state is a state trending conservative. it's a state where people are unhappy with some of the major initiatives that claire mchas kill supported while p in congress. despite the gaffes she's running hard to hang onto her seat. this is not a done deal as i think her camp would be after he made those controversial statements last month. i think claire mccaskill, the fact she's talking about it shows she knows it's a competitive race in her state right now. we're going to see morance dorisments today. chip told akin to drop out and he's endorse him today. if they want to get ahold of the senate majority next year, they need to have a net gain of four seats and missouri is an important state and a must win state for republicans. >> how hard a calculation, then,

perry is that for them if they think they have a chance? they would love to win that seat. on the other hand, what are the consequences in other races if it brings up up rape comments again and the war on women? >> it's where we are politically. the senate majority is so close they have to support akin. if you're scott brown, you have to figure on out a successful way it to distance yourself from akin and the broader republican party. if you're scott brown you're already doing it anyway because obama will win massachusetts by 20 points probably. brown is already doing that in some ways. i don't think supporting aakin in mosby the national party would kill scott brown known in the state as an independent person anyway. i think some of those republican candidates are artful enough to survive that particular move. >> perry bacon, susan, thank you is both. it was great to see you. very busy campaign day ahead for

the candidates and their spouses. michelle obama is racking up frequent flyer miles in cedar falls, iowa and appleton, wisconsin. mitt romney starts his dame in pennsylvania. joe biden very popular there, and ends with his running mate in boston, massachusetts. hes nu, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. ♪ forz(power!) andiamo! andiamo! (let's go! let's go!) avanti! avanti! (keep going! keep going!) hahaha...hahahaha! you know ronny, folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy? happier than christopher columbus with speedboats. that's happy! get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

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mitt romney is the unwhiting star in a new obama campaign attack ad. the third to hammer the republican candidate for his caught on camera comments. >> there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what are who are dependent upon government whobl that they are victims, whobl that the government has a responsibility to care for them. who believe that they're entitled. >> here to talk more about how the campaigns are spending their hundreds of millions is ad

expert and vice chairman of reputation.com, howard bragman. good to see you, howard. these 47% comments nobody would disagree have been a gift to democrats. jansing and company got new numbers from visible measures. they say this next video from obama's super-pac, priorities usa, ranks number two for the week with more than a he million views. take a look. >> behind these doors mitt romney calls half the american people -- >> dependent upon government. they believe they are victims. >> victims? behind these doors middle class families struggle, and rom knee will make it tougher raising taxes by up to $2,000 to give multi-million nares a $250,000 tax break. >> do these ads right themselves? it really was a gift. >> it really was. when the history of the 2012 presidential campaign is written, the 47% remark is going to be the seminole moment.

there was a journalist from a competing news organization who said that was the day romney lost the election. believe me, romney's made a lot of mistakes in this election, but that's going to be the defining moment for this campaign. it's testing really well, which is why the obama people keep hammering on it. >> it was interesting to watch the strategies, and somebody was commenting this morning and i thought it was very smart. yes, mitt romney has made mistakes as a candidate, but that doesn't negate the fact that the obama campaign has done some good things, including their analysis was running a lot of early ads to define mitt romney before he could define himself. so he had this reputation as this rich guy who didn't understand regular people, and then when you ad some of these other things in, it becomes almost insurmountable. do you agree with that analysis? was the obama campaign ultimately smart to spend that money early? >> they were very smart. they did exactly to mitt romney what george bush did to john kerry a few years ago.

but romney's people should have been smart enough to know this was happening. there was no presumption of that. they didn't get out aahead of the story. they didn't define their candidate well. there's two parts to this election, chris. one, is romney said a lot of people are unhappy with obama and his leadership and the economy. we accept that. he never made the connection that i'm the answer and solution. that's where the disconnect happened. >> mitt romney has been doing a lot to -- we saw it starting at the conventions. make himself more acceptable and help people understand him better. he's doing these direct into the camera ads. let me play one of those for you. >> more americans are living in poverty than when president obama took office. my plan will create 12 million new jobs over the next four years. helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening the middle class. >> the president is doing the same thing, doing some of these

direct to camera. when you see a million ads in a battleground states, do these stand out? how do you make an ad stand out when it's all political ads and not just for the president, obviously, but senate and congressional local races. >> i think you hit the thing. as long as they spend a fairly equal amount of money, the people in the swing states are glazed over with these ads. >> looking into the camera doesn't mean anything? >> no. the ads that matter now and what's really a game changer to me is the ads and the things that are going big on social media. there's so many of the young people, so many people don't watch traditional television in traditional ways, and what's going on social media is probably going to have a significant effect on the swing voters. >> to that point, let me play for you the number one ad as ranked by visible measures, more than 1.7 million views, sarah silverman stars in "let me people vote."

>> there are these brand-new laws which are presented as a way to prevent voter fraud but are, in fact, designed to make it hard for specific people to vote. black people, elderly people, poor people and students. hmm, i wonder what those demographics have in common? oh, yeah. they're probably going to vote for this guy. >> the fight against voter i.d. laws has been a hot topic, so obviously it addresses that. sarah silverman, not a megastar, but somebody who does sort of get that youth interest. why do you think that ad was so popular? >> people love sarah, and if you saw the whole ad, it was something you wouldn't play on tv. >> exactly. that's the part we could play. >> it was a lot saltier than tv would allow us. she's been political along the way. she tried to get old jewish people to vote in florida the last election, and she's had a very funny, very clear voice.

she says a lot of things pore people just won't say. >> howard bragman, always love having you here. i see you tomorrow at the big wedding. >> we'll dance. >> thank you so much. indeed. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is getting high-powered attention after all. last night he had a 75-minute one on one with secretaries of state hillary clinton. today he's scheduled to talk with president obama and governor romney by phone. yesterday the prime minister made this impassioned plea before the u.n. general assembly to stop iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. that's a chart he used to set his red line to where iran's nuclear program must absolutely be stopped. this country was built by working people. the economy needs manufacturing. machines, tools, people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructure, construction, production. we need it now more than ever. chevron's putting more than $8 billion dollars back in the u.s. economy this year.

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better. remember that movie "the sixth sense"? i'm like the kid in that movie. i see employed people. i know you don't see them. don't even know they're there. but one day all of you will be bruce willis, and you're realize that you were employed all along. >> what about a real appearance by the candidates? the show's head writer seth meyers said, quote, senator obama came on in 2007, and we all saw what ended up happening to him. so obviously it's very key to the election cycle to come on our show. nice try. tad romney got out there and mixed it up with people by knocking on doors and chatting up voters in greensboro, north carolina. >> you look so much like your dad. >> samuel l. jackson is is getting people's attention with

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momentum from president obama. both candidates will be squaring off against debate stand-ins, 2004 presidential candidate john kerry will stand in in the role of mitt romney and ohio senator rob portman will star as president obama. he also did it in john mccain's 2008 campaign. ahead of next week's debates, both sides have been lowering expectations. >> the president is, obviously, a very eloquent, gifted speaker. he'll do just fine. >> mitt romney has an advantage because he's been through 20 debates in the primaries oefrt the last year. >> barack obama is a very effective debater. >> we know governor romney is practicing for months. i think the invasion of normandy took less preparation than he's putting into the debates. >> i'm joined by the president of progress and former obama white house adviser and also with us is robert trainum. nera, you helped with hillary

clinton's debate preps and you worked robert with with rick santorum and president bush. let's get to the heart of it, robert. both sides lowering expectations, but realistically how important is this debate for romney "nightly newmitt romney? >> it's very important. this is his second time to make an impression. the first time was during the republican convention. the second time is in a situation where he's going to be asked very specific, detailed policy questions and in fairness he gets a chance to put president obama on the defensive the but to sflan to the american people specifically what he wants. here's the unfortunate truth about this, chris. both presidential candidates, president obama and governor romney are smart individuals. this is going to be a very good debate, because both are policy wonks and they're not afraid to answer a detailed question. >> nera, this morning chuck todd said to be honest -- they're both smart men, but neither is a great debater. he thinks the vice presidential

debate will be a lot more interesting. however, mitt romney has 20 primary debates under his belt and president obama has none this time around. if you look at history, the past four incumbent presidents have had a difficult time in the first debate. give me your take on this. >> the president has had numerous press conferences. obviously piece asked questions about policy and he has to answer them. he has to practice having sharper answers, because you have a limited amount of time. i do think, though, that governor romney has a disadvantage in that he hasn't been very specific. he's going to have to be very specific. the president will hold him accountable to facts and figures. you know, the president knows his policies. at this point i hope he knows governor romney's policies. so i think this will be a good debate between two people very skilled. obviously, governor romney has more practice, more recent practice, but i do think

substance matters and that will be very helpful to the president. >> everybody watches for that memorable moment, and part of the trick is to have one ready to go but make it look like it came off the top of your head. ronald reagan was a master at that. let me play a little clip. >> i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i'm not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. >> it was a good one. it got a great laugh. perry, an argue was mamt by roger simon in politico this morning that mitt romney needs to have a few jokes to leave people with the impression he's a regular guy and not some cardboard cutout. how important are one liners and jakes? perry? >> it's so -- >> i'm sorry. robert. sorry. gosh. >> that's okay. i was waiting for that. it's very important because obviously what american people

are looking for, they both know that these individuals are smart. what they're looking for is some type of personal impression by saying, you know what? i like this guy. not only does he get the job of being president, but he's funny and humorous as well. even george w. bush was good at that in 2004 and 2000. the question is whether mitt romney can connect with the american people. most know he can do the job. the question is that likability factor and whether or not you quote-unquote want to have a beer with him. >> mitt romney showed a tough side with rick perry last year. >> i'm looking forward to finding your facts on that. >> the facts are -- >> rick, i'm speaking. i'm speaking. >> i'm wondering, do you think the obama campaign will have something up its sleeves it to get under romney's skin? do those moments make people uncomfortable, or do they say, well, you know what?

he's got a little feistiness in him? >> i think that the president should really consider this an opportunity to talk with the american people about how, you know, his vision of leadership. talk directly about his policies. you know, his strategies to move the country forward. i don't think he should get -- my own advice is he shouldn't get into getting under romney's skin or having a back and forth, et cetera. this is a serious, serious discussion that people are looking for. i don't think he has -- i don't think the onus is on him. it's on governor romney. when governor romney has a joke or a zinger, it's also how president obama addresses it and how he deals with it. he has an advantage, which is people already like him. they already are sympathetic to him. they're kind of often rooting for him. so i think he really needs to take the debate very seriously as a way to discuss what he means -- what it means to move

this country forward. he shouldn't get into the games of it and the zingers and the back and forth. he doesn't want to be mean either. so i think he should just take this as an opportunity to talk about his policies. >> nera and robert, definitely not rick perry as i was looking down at my notes. thanks to both of you. have a great weekend. >> thank you. you, too. nbc news has learned that the republican national committee has fired a controversial consulting firm it hired to conduct voter registration in five battleground states. potentially fraudulent registration forms have been uncovered. michael isokoff joins me with more. >> fair to say this is causing headaches at the rnc this morning. basically they hired strategic allied consulting to go vote early registration around the country in five battleground states. register new republican voters and mitt romney supporters.

in florida, palm beach county, the elections supervisor finds that some of the forms dropped off at one of its satellite offices out of 308, 106 were problematic. seemed to have the same signatures. seem to link up to phony addresses, a shell gas station, a medical office building, a land recovery dealership. they reported this to local prosecutors. meanwhile, other counties in florida now up to six have reported similar irregularities with the same firm, strategic allied consulting. the florida republican party said they were firing the firm, and now the republican national committee has said they're receivering all ties with the if i remember that's saying they have zero tolerance for this sort of thing. the firm run by a controversial consultant nathan sproul is pushing back saying he's the victim here. there are a few bad apples who

defrauded him, and he's quite upset at the florida republican party, saying they've overreacted and hurt his business. >> thank you for that update. appreciate it. in the meantime police are searching to a he moefsh after a gunman opened fire inside a minneapolis dye making business before turning the weapon on himself. five people including the gunman died and four others were wounded. witnesses say the shooter may have been fired from his job thursday morning. nasa researchers say the mars rover found new evidence of an ancient stream. they say new pictures have telltale signs of rocks in flowing water. they suggest they were carried down the 20 mif mile stream or river and smoothed along the way. was there life on mars? how much of mitt romney's campaign still belongs to mitt romney? a new "rolling stone" article raises questions whether it's romney or really paul ryan running the show. that's coming up in about 10 minutes.

facebook moves in on amazon's turf. mandy drury is here with what's moving your money. facebook has a new gift service. >> the reason behind this, chris, is wall street is kind of growing a little restless for more revenue from facebook because it's facing slackening ad revenue. this is something new, and make it's gimmicky. it's called facebook gift, and it helps you send things like chocolate or socks whatever, flowers to one another. it's being made available to a subset of users here in the states. you click on the gifts link on your facebook friends pages, and it's then going to display various presents to purchase. the recipient, chris, is notified through facebook to sfwer their shipping address. guess what? facebook takes a cut from each item sold, and various partners signed up like starbucks, magnolia bakery and 1-800-flowers. >> new york city has announced plans to build the biggest ferris wheel in the world.

you look like you don't want to get on it. >> you know, my first reaction was, why? i'm not entiring sure we need this, but anyway, for $230 million we're going to get the biggest ferris wheel in the world. mayor michael bloomberg wants to build it on staten island. it's taller than the current record holder in singapore at 541 feet. it's going to reach higher into the sky, chris, in the high roller wleel planned for las vegas. construction expected to begin in two years' time. so we can hopeful ride it in 2015. it's going to be big in other way. it will carry 1,440 people all at once. >> you and i will get in line. >> we're getting in line, chris. >> but never actually get on. cnbc's mandy drury, have a good business. the drinks business profiled the most popular beer.

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oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners. i was talking to my best friend. fedex office. i told her i wasn't feeling like myself... i had pain in my pelvic area... and bleeding that wasn't normal for me. she said i had to go to the doctor. turned out i had uterine cancer, a type of gynecologic cancer. i received treatment and we're confident i'll be fine.

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tiny nerves in the inner ear of the gerbils. although they can hear a range of sounds similar to humans, replicating the study in humans is still only a whisper. mitt romney's critics demand specifics, and a new "rolling stone" article poses this answer. quote, a look at the bills that republicans have passed since they took control of the house in 2010 offers a clear blueprint of the agenda that a romney administration would be primed to establish. joining me now is the author, tim dickenson. what were some of the policies that think will make up the blueprint? >> romney had an opportunity here to pick somebody else other than paul ryan as his running mate. a forward-looking fellow governor, and they could have run against washington dysfunction as well as the obama administration. instead he yoked himself to ryan who is the architect of a

radical and fprofane agenda in the house. he's tied to washington in an unpu unpopular agenda. >> during an interview after collecting paul ryan, governor romney said he's running on his budget and not congressman ryan's. let me play that. >> i have my budget plan, as you know, that i put out. that's the budget plan we're going to run on. >> you heard mitt romney there, so is it fair to assume he will follow paul ryan's blueprint? >> his senior adviser ed gillespie said if his budget reached his desk, he would have signed it. reverend norquist said the real leadership in the republican party is not located the in the oval office but in congress, and what republicans really need is sort of a human equivalent of up an auto pen. somebody with enough fingers to sign legislation. if you look at this legislation,

it's not just a return to the days of george w. bush. on everything from environmental regulations to abortion to gun rights, it's worse than bush. so some of his centrist supporters they make this argument. this is a guy who seems to believe this is a base election, which is one of the reasons that he chose paul ryan. that he has a history of not only be a mode rate and they saw that when he was governor of massachusetts, but also in the way he worked with people across the aisle. something that they argue barack obama has not been able to do to work with the republicans. what do you say to that argument? >> you just have to take romney at his word at some point. he's talking about block granting all the social safety net programs, which sounds great to return the power to the state. they also dramatically under fund these over time. in medicaid, the medical

programs for the disabled, poor, seniors and nursing homes, they chop $810 billion out of the program in a decade. so what does that mean? that means 44 million people go without health care. so that is not the agenda of somebody who is moderate or looking across the aisle. that's somebody who is trying to undo the new deal. >> tim dickinson, the article is in "rolling stone." today's tweet of the day is martin ba shir. classic snapshot captures sour baby moment on the campaign frail for mitt romney. my doctor told me calcium

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concerns about safety have led the state department to remove for staffers from the u.s. embassy in libya at least temporarily. the embassy has been operating with a limited staff after the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi that killed ambassador

chris stooerevens and three oth measures. members from both parties want more information. >> the issue goes beyond the day-to-day political infighting and you have members of both parties asking for more details in part because of the gravity of the situation and because there's an evolving eleven the information that's becoming public. john kerry, who heads the senate foreign relations committee, has put together a letter he sent to the state department with some members of the republican party as well asking for more information. now, some of what we are seeing, some of that pressure does have a more partisan edge where you have critics in the republican party who have put letters forward to secretary clinton, to the u.n. ambassador, susan rice specifically talking about what they believe were misstatements by the administration or a lack of being, i guess, savvy enough

to suspect a terrorist attack, which some republican members like john mccain, like kelly ayotte have been saying was more likely than a spontaneous mob reaction. so there is a bit of the politics, but there is something that steps away from that and they're pushing for answers. they're out of town and don't come back until november. they ask for any information on an interim basis and expect to see hearings, further congressional investigations because of their oversight responsibilities when they do get back in november. it's an issue that is really bringing people it together in one sense, but it's also a very hot political issue when it comes to the level of security for our ambassadors and those hot parts of the world where there's been so much going on. so expect to see a whole lot more of this, chris. >> what we hear from the white house and from officials is that basically you don't want to jump conclusions. you want to take your time before making those kinds of statements and accusations.

>> part of what you find with senators is they have a level of clearance, so some of the information they could be requesting could be done in a classified way so it wouldn't be known to the public if it's still in the case of not having everything firmed up or things too sensitive to talk about publicly. that's part of the regular role. for john kerry, his letter is not so much a criticism and some viewed it that way. it's more a function of what the senate foreign relations committee does to have i don't ever sight. they have resources to look at these things. part of what they may be asking for we won't hear about for a while. >> kelly o'donnell, thank you very much. john kerry will be a guest on andrea mitchell at 1:00 eastern time. that wraps up our hour, jansing & company. alex witt is filling in for thomas roberts. what do you have next? >> you know that michael jackson song "man in the mirror"?

that's what it may come down to for mitt romney. can mitt turn his campaign around with the president leading in all nine battleground states? with early voting kicking into high gear in several swing states, we look at which side has a ground game. mi mccastille the world... . heir students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. [ sneezes ]

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i'm at a loss. i don't know exactly what his accusation that i'm not ladylike means? >> talk about unladylike? he's not truly manly. he's not a real man. a real man knows how a woman's body works. a real man wouldn't comment on a female senator's debate as